Muller Field Station - Finger Lakes Community College

education | experience | opp ortunit y
Muller
Field Station
finger l akes communit y college
M
uller Field Station in the southern Honeoye Lake
valley of the Finger Lakes Region provides
field-based environmental education for academic
programs, laboratory experience, community
outreach, and the
opportunity to participate
in or observe research projects.
With 48 acres and access to Honeoye Lake through the Inlet
Channel, Muller Field Station offers residential scientific facilities
for colleges and universities conducting field biology research.
Donated by Florence Muller to the Finger Lakes Community College Foundation in December 1999,
the field station’s mission is to:
Muller Field Station can provide colleges and
universities with a variety of research opportunities,
Bee Balm, Lizard's
including individual species studies, aquatic investigations, field-based terrestrial
wildflower species
succession studies and ecological work within many forest types. Some cultural
impacts on natural communities are known while others need creative scientific
research. Long-term ecological monitoring to evaluate remedial action programs
• Serve as a learning and research center for the western Finger Lakes region
is also desirable in the conservation landscape of the western Finger Lakes.
• Promote understanding and appreciation of environmental issues and the natural resources of the region
Researchers have identified several conservation targets, including woodland
• Provide experiential education and scientific research opportunities for students and the community
salamanders, meltwater channels and till seepages, bedrock controlled systems,
The Honeoye Lake watershed is a mosaic of 40 natural communities, including linear assemblages such
Surveys have identified more than 1,200 rare and common
species worthy of scientific investigation, including:
• 11 species of conifers
• 555 species of flowering plants
• 27 species of fish
• 20 species of amphibians
• 200 species of insects
• 75 non-flowering plants, such as lichens, mosses and ferns
• 15 species of reptiles, including three Heritage-ranked species:
the spiny soft-shell turtle, the timber rattlesnake and the coal skink
• 159 species of birds that migrate through or nest within the southern Honeoye Valley
• 32 species of mammals inhabit the region—so far. Black bear and fisher have naturally
returned, and river otter have been restored through a release program.
Amenities
• Two-bedroom house with full kitchen (handicap accessibility on first floor only)
• Scientific equipment available in laboratory:
› Spectrophotometer
› pH meter
› Compound microscopes
› Muffle furnace
› Soil and water quality test kits
› Analytical balances
› Dissecting microscopes
› Drying oven
› Experimental fish culture tanks
• Equipment available for field sampling:
› Boats, canoes and kayaks
› Forestry sampling tools
› Seine nets, gill nets, trap nets and D-nets
› Live traps
› Trail camcorders › Dredges
› Radio-telemetry collars
› Water quality probes
found on the property
Below: (top) A view of
the Muller Field Station
the great room
matrix forest systems, lacustrine systems, and low-gradient and mainstem streams.
Tail and Bloodroot;
property and (bottom)
as rocky headwater streams, expansive cover types, including Appalachian oak-hickory forest and silver
maple-ash swamp, and small imbedded communities such as vernal pools and shale talus slope woodlands.
Above (left to right):
Visit the Muller Field Station Web site at www.flcc.edu/muller for a virtual tour.
“The road to scientific discovery and a better understanding
of the natural world grows out of extensive field
and classroom experience. Field stations like Muller
are the lifeblood of environmental education.”
— John M. Farrell, Ph.D. | FLCC Alumnus ’84
Associate Professor at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Director of the Thousand Islands Biological Station
The field station is less than one hour from six Finger Lakes
(Canadice, Canandaigua, Conesus, Hemlock, Honeoye and Keuka).
Trails lead from the field station lands to the adjacent 2,200-acre New York State Department
of Environmental Conservation Honeoye Inlet Wildlife Management Area.
Other nearby natural lands with opportunities for research include:
• Conesus Inlet Fish and Wildlife Management Area
• Cumming Nature Center
• Muller Camp
• Grimes Glen County Park
• Rob’s Trail
• Harriet Hollister Spencer State Recreation Area
• Taylor Marsh Preserve
• Hemlock-Canadice State Forest
• Warren Cutler Boy Scout Reservation
• High Tor Wildlife Management Area
• Wesley Hill Preserve
• Honeoye Creek Wildlife Management Area
• West Hill Preserve
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Bruce Gilman
Director, Muller Field Station
(585) 785-1255 | [email protected]
FPO